Many patent law dilemmas arise from a failure to understand technologies as embedded in broader social, economic and political realities and to contextually analyze these legal phenomena. This narrowness leads to poor legal development, of which the modern medical exception from patentability is one example. Judges have difficulty interpreting it, patentees do not understand its purpose and it does not protect the important medical technologies to which the public would like access. This thesis applies a legal pluralist analysis to examine the emergence of the medical methods exception in order to understand why it was created and legislated. It starts by examining the origins of the exception in the caselaw, and the informal, concurrent norm established by the emerging medical profession in the early 20th century. It then proceeds to examine why the medical profession might have sought and enforced a norm prohibiting its members from patenting, and concludes that this arose from the need of the medical profession to distance itself from the patent law. As a result, professionalizing physicians established an internal normative order that mimicked and in many cases replaced the effect of the formal law. The thesis then proceeds to examine how the form of the informal norm evolved in the period between WWI and WWII, finding that the profession’s norm transformed and broke down concurrently with its efforts to achieve external legitimacy through legislation. That breakdown arose from factors which included growing labour mobility, greater understanding of the benefits of patents, and a growing role of science and industry in medicine that threatened the profession’s access to valuable medical innovation. The thesis concludes with a study of a current case (Myriad Genetics) that applies the thesis’ theoretical framework to a present dispute over the role the law should play in regulating genetic diagnostic tests.

E-handeln inom Europa växer explosionsartat och tillgång till varor och tjänster är i dagsläget endast några få knapptryck bort. Eftersom åtkomsten till internet är global kan hemsidor och webbshoppar få en enorm internationell spridning. Näringsidkare som bedriver fysisk handel kan enkelt anpassa sig till lagar, språk, valuta mm. i landet där deras verksamhet är placerad, men anpassningen på internet, i cybervärlden, är svårare. Geolokalisering är en teknik som gör det möjligt för näringsidkare att kunna anpassa sig, genom att lokalisera och fastställa var internetanvändare befinner sig. När en internetanvändares geografiska placering är fastställd, kan näringsidkaren anpassa utbud, reklam, språk och valuta på hemsidan som denne bedriver. Möjligheten att kunna lokalisera internetanvändare på detta sätt, är ur ett affärsmässigt perspektiv mycket lönsamt för en näringsidkare. Geolokaliseringen ger även näringsidkaren en möjlighet till att geoblockera internetanvändare från dennes hemsida, genom att exempelvis helt blockera åtkomst, anpassa vilka produkter internetanvändaren får åtkomst till eller omdirigera internetanvändare från en version av hemsidan till en annan. Geoblockering kan därför underlätta det för en näringsidkare att följa regler och lagar i de olika länderna där dennes hemsida är tillgänglig. Immaterialrätter är i regel skyddade inom olika territorium. Med immaterialrätter följer ensamrätt till användande av rättigheten inom skyddsområdet. En näringsidkare som säljer varor på sin e-handels hemsida, som är eller kan vara omfattade av andra innehavares rättighetsskydd, kan använda geoblockering som ett verktyg för att helt undvika eller anpassa sig till de olika immaterialrättsliga skyddsområdena. Kommissionen har meddelat att ett av EU:s mål är att skapa en digital inre marknad och förhindra diskriminering mot konsumenter baserat på nationalitet, bostadsort eller geografisk placering. Diskrimineringen kan utgöras av exempelvis olika begränsningar för en konsument som vill få tillgång till ett innehåll eller köpa varor på internet. En sådan begränsning kan vara geoblockering. Den 25 maj 2016 lade Kommissionen fram ett förordningsförslag, som syftar till att förbjuda omotiverad geoblockering. I november 2016 enades Rådet om ett utkast till förordningen. Förordningsförhandlingarna förväntas påbörja så snart som Europaparlamentet enats om sin ståndpunkt. Frågan är hur ett förbud mot geoblockering kan komma att påverka näringsidkare inom e-handeln, ur ett immaterialrättsligt perspektiv.

The capacity to assemble, store, and make available information in databases is ever growing. This development has accelerated in recent decades, driven by the advent and increased use of digital networks. Already at an early stage, it led to demands for legal protection of databases. In most countries databases have been protected in national legislation based on copyright principles. However, this kind of protection has been regarded as insufficient. The reason for this is that copyright protection only covers the selection or arrangement of the contents of the database. By rearranging the contents, it is possible to avoid liability for copyright infringement. To address the specific needs of producers of databases, the then European community adopted a directive in 1996 on the legal protection of databases. The Directive aims to harmonise copyright protection for databases and to introduce a new, sui generis, right for the legal protection of databases. The sui generis right protects the investments in obtaining, verifying, and presenting the contents in a database. The sui generis right has been described in the literature as one of the most complex intellectual property rights ever established. Its complexity resides in the unclear relationship between the requirements for protection and the content and scope of protection. This dissertation describes, analyses, compares and systematises the legal protection for databases as provided for in the EU Database Directive – both in relation to copyright and sui generis protection, but also in relation to the intellectual property system in general and principles and rules on unfair competition. The study also describes and analyses the Directive as implemented into Swedish law. To do this, it makes use of relevant legal sources, with particular account taken of relevant sources of EU law such as the Directive itself, adjacent directives in the field of copyright and related rights, as well as unfair competition law and the case law and legal method developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The study also draws on underlying theories of intellectual property protection and unfair competition law, as well as arguments based on unjust enrichment and pure economic loss. The study establishes how the sui generis right serves as a legal hybrid between traditional intellectual property rights and protection against unfair competition. The structure of the right resembles traditional intellectual property rights, with requirements for protection, provisions on exclusive rights, exceptions and limitations and a term of protection. At the same time, the content and scope of protection provide measures similar to those countering unfair competition with aspects of protection against pure economic loss. The right protects against certain activities carried out in the market rather than providing protection for a traditional object of intellectual property law. When implementing the Directive, the Swedish legislator overlooked these aspects of the sui generis right, creating legal uncertainties when interpreting and applying the national legislation. The study concludes with a look forward and suggestions for future research.

在知識經濟的時代大背景下，知識產權交易是知識產權轉化為商品的有效 手段，而知識產權交易平台又是知識產權交易的重要硬體保障。文章分析了中國大陸知識產權交易市場的現狀，分析借鑑了國外優秀交易平台的建設經驗，指出了中國大陸知識產權交易平台中存在的問題，闡述了建設知識產權交易平台的特點、作用與發展定位，結合目前的發展規劃，提出了建立健全知識產權綜合交易平台的構想及具體建議。

Le droit des brevets a pour but premier de favoriser les développements technologiques et industriels. Cependant, à l’heure actuelle, ce domaine voit son rôle confronté à une forme de crise, à cause plus précisément des avancées constatées dans le secteur des biotechnologies. De difficiles questions fondamentales se posent à différents niveaux, que ce soit socialement, moralement et légalement. Au vu de ces observations, la question est de savoir, dans le cadre de cette étude, si la régulation devrait être plus signifiante en tenant compte des considérations morales et éthiques dans le processus de brevetabilité. Cette étude a donc pour but de comparer et d’évaluer les diverses solutions proposées en Europe, aux États-Unis et au Canada, afin de déterminer quelle serait la voie envisageable vers la résolution de cette problématique. Par exemple, dans ce contexte, on peut pointer l’approche européenne, où la CBE et la Directive du Parlement européen relative à la protection des inventions biotechnologiques (98/44/CE) semblent introduire des notions éthiques dans leurs textes juridiques. Un tel procédé apporte des notions qui peuvent être considérées comme vagues et évolutives dans un processus qui se veut apparemment technique. Alors que si l’on prend l’approche nord-américaine, celle-ci se fonde sur des critères de brevetabilité dénués de toutes considérations morales. Par l’analyse de ces éléments, une voie possible pourrait être décrite vers un système des brevets qui répondrait mieux aux exigences actuelles. / Patent law has for primary goals to promote new tehnological and industrial developments. However, patent law has been currently confronted to some questioning about its role raised particulary by the new advancement made in biotechnologies. Difficult fondamental questions must be addressed at different levels: socialy, moraly and legaly. Following these obersvations, the question to answer, in this study, is whether regulation should be more significant by taking into account some moral and ethical considerations in the process of patentability. The goal of this study is to compare and estimate the various solutions provided by Europe, the USA and Canada, to determine what could be the answer of that problematic. For exemple, in this context, we can point out the European approach, where the EPC and the Directive of the European Parliamment on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions (98/44/CE) seem to introduce ethical notions in their legislation. Such approach brings elements which can be discribed as indistinct and progressive in a process apparently defined as technical. But if we take the North American approach, its patentability critea are not based on any moral consideration. So by analysing these elements, an approach could be defined to a more appropriate patent legislation fitting the actual necessities.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Vladimír Lajsek: Chosen Relative Grounds for Dismissal of a Trademark Registration This topic is dealing with two chosen relative grounds of dismissal of a trademark registration, particularly with sec. 7 (1) (i) and sec. 7 (1) (j) statute No. 441/2003 Coll. The first part presents a general introduction in the whole issue, as with relative grounds for dismissal of a trademark registration and with proceeding on objections. Afterwards, there is described historical development of these provisions, which helped to their establishing into Czech legal order. The author finds, that these provisions were not established until convergence with the European law. Next parts are focusing on the particular provisions. The chapter about objection to the older copyright contains the role of the Czech Industrial Property Office in the proceedings of author crafts and their authorship. The Office should make its own conclusion in these circumstances, so it is not dependent on the binding decision of a court. In the issue of considering, whether particular mark is or is not an author craft, the author offers his own three-level-test of uniqueness, which is based on summarisation of the former decision-making of the Office. To the issue of the right to sue on grounds of this objection the author concludes, this...

The goal of this thesis is to analyze international license contract institute, the function and the position it occupies in the sphere of international business with incorporeal goods and legal regime which it, on the level of the Czech rule of law and European Union law, is subject to. The thesis consists of four parts. The first part focuses on the institute of contractual license in general. It outlines its conception and basic definitional framework. It reflects the function and the position which the institute of license contract occupies in the Czech rule of law as well as its shift within the framework of Czech private law recodification. It presents diverse typology of contractual license and in the process it thoroughly focuses on its modifications, respectively on marginal agreement models such as franchise agreement and know how agreement. The second part of the thesis continues with text dedicated to the institute of license contract with international element. It presents its general classification and it also analyzes sources of its modification. The third part of the thesis treats legal regime which the international license contract is subject to, and the focal point of the text lies in the union modification included in the Rome Convention and in Regulation Rome I. The problem is discussed...

La valorisation des résultats est considérée comme un objectif prioritaire du service public de la recherche depuis maintenant trente ans. Ce phénomène s’est encore accentué avec l’émergence de l’économie de la connaissance. Les productions immatérielles de la recherche scientifique sont désormais clairement perçues comme des richesses qu’il convient d’exploiter sur un marché pour générer de la croissance.Pour atteindre cet objectif, les acteurs de la recherche publique sont encouragés par les pouvoirs publics à mobiliser les mécanismes de la propriété intellectuelle, en rupture avec le modèle de science ouverte. Le recours à la propriété intellectuelle pour les besoins de la valorisation fait ainsi naître une tension entre, d’une part, une logique économique et entrepreneuriale et, d’autre part, les normes d’ouverture et de partage qui prévalaient jusqu’alors au sein la recherche scientifique publique.La présente étude se propose d’examiner les rapports complexes qu’entretient la propriété intellectuelle en tant qu’institution juridique avec la mission de valorisation des résultats de la recherche publique. Les points de contact sont en effet nombreux, qu’il s’agisse de délimiter ce qui, au sein des résultats, peut être approprié et selon quelles modalités, d’identifier qui, parmi les acteurs de la recherche, doit être considéré comme propriétaire, ou encore de favoriser le transfert des résultats vers le secteur industriel et commercial. Il apparaîtra que la logique et les mécanismes de la propriété intellectuelle ne sont pas incompatibles avec les normes de la recherche publique. Au contraire, la propriété intellectuelle doit être considérée comme un instrument privilégié dans la mesure où elle aménage un équilibre subtil entre réservation et diffusion des connaissances qui répond parfaitement aux objectifs de la valorisation / For the last thirty years, valorisation of research results has been deemed a main objective for public research organisations. This trend has been emphasised by the emergence of a knowledge-based economy. Immaterial productions of scientific research are now plainly seen as assets that need to be used on the market to encourage growth.In order to achieve this goal, public research stakeholders are pressed by authorities to summon intellectual property rights, in contradiction with the open science model. The use of intellectual property rights for the needs of valorisation gives rise to a tension between a business-oriented perspective and the norms of sharing and openness that prevail among the scientific community.The aim of this thesis is to study the intricate interactions existing between intellectual property and valorisation of public research results. There are numerous points of contact, such as defining what is subject matter for intellectual property among scientific research results and who is entitled to the intellectual property rights, or fostering the technology transfer toward industry. It will be shown the mechanisms underlying intellectual property do not collide with the norms of public research. Quite the opposite, intellectual property is to be favoured since it can provide public research organisations with a subtle balance between reservation and dissemination of knowledge, hence fulfilling the goals of valorisation

Orientador: Juliano Maurício de Carvalho / Resumo: O presente estudo se propõe a identificar, sistematizar e analisar a agenda política construída no plano regional sul-americano acerca da produção, distribuição e circulação de bens simbólicos e culturais, materializados na forma de conteúdos digitais, no âmbito da União das Nações Sul-americanas (Unasul). O recorte temporal de análise compreende o período entre 2008 e 2017, que representa a primeira década de atuação do organismo de cooperação, posteriormente à consolidação das Declarações da Cúpula Mundial sobre a Sociedade da Informação (CMSI), que definiriam os elementos norteadores das estratégias de desenvolvimento da Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) para a consolidação do novo paradigma sociotécnico da Sociedade da Informação. A pesquisa possui abordagem qualitativa, de caráter explicativo, e recorre à Análise Documental como procedimento para desconstrução dos elementos essenciais dos registros documentais da Unasul; reconstrói e debate os elementos essenciais à conformação de políticas de comunicação para produção de conteúdos digitais a partir do referencial teórico-epistemológico da Economia Política da Comunicação e do Conhecimento – influenciado pela tradição de pesquisa do Ciespal. Como resultados, a pesquisa identifica a centralidade das indústrias culturais e da propriedade intelectual na agenda política da Unasul, apesar de verificar certa dificuldade na implementação de ações concretas para o setor. / Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio es identificar, sistematizar y analizar la agenda política construida a nivel regional de América del Sur con respecto a la producción, distribución y circulación de bienes simbólicos y culturales, materializados en forma de contenido digital, en el marco de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas. (Unasur). El plazo de análisis abarca el período entre 2008 y 2017, que representa la primera década de funcionamiento del organismo de cooperación, después de la consolidación de las Declaraciones de la Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información (CMSI), que definiría los elementos orientadores de las estrategias de cooperación. Desarrollo de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) para consolidar el nuevo paradigma sociotécnico de la sociedad de la información. La investigación tiene un enfoque cualitativo, de carácter explicativo, y utiliza el análisis de documentos como un procedimiento para deconstruir los elementos esenciales de los registros documentales de Unasur; Reconstruye y discute los elementos esenciales para la configuración de las políticas de comunicación para la producción de contenido digital desde el marco teóricoepistemológico de la economía política de la comunicación y el conocimiento, influenciado por la tradición de investigación de Ciespal. Como resultado, la investigación identifica la centralidad de las industrias culturales y la propiedad intelectual en la agenda política de Unasur, a pesar de encontrar algunas dificultades para implemen... (Resumen completo clicar acceso eletrônico abajo) / Abstract: The present research proposes to identify, systematize and analyze the political agenda built on the South American regional plan on the production, materialized in the form of digital content, within the Union of South American Nations (USAN). The analysis understand the period between 2008 and 2017, that represents the first decade of cooperation operation, after the consolidation of the Declaration of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), that would define the guiding elements of the development strategies of the United Nations (UN) for the consolidation of the new socio-technical paradigm of the information society. The research has a qualitative approach with an explanatory character and uses the documentary analysis to deconstruction the essential elements of USAN's documentary records; reconstructs and debates the essential elements to the conformation of communication policies for the production of digital contents from the theoreticalepistemological referential of the Political Economy of Communication and Knowledge – influenced by Ciespal's research tradition. As results, the research identifies the centrality of cultural industries and intellectual property on the political agenda of USAN, although verify some difficulty in the implementation of concrete actions for the sector. / Doutor